Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update but I've been busy the past few days, but here it is… Chapter 4 of the Alliance! By the way, you can expect a few surprises in this chapter. One more thing, the Valley of Bowser is from Super Mario World and Vista Hill is from Super Mario RPG. That being said, enjoy the Chapter.
Disclaimer: No, just no. I do not own Mario. There.
Chapter 4:
The Medallion of the Dead
"So does anyone know where Bowser's Castle is?" The "Fearsome Five," as Doopliss called them, were heading out of Petal Meadows to confront Bowser so they could put a stop to his evil plans. Doopliss had never seen Bowser, but he had heard many stories about him, nearly all of them involving various kidnappings of Princess Peach.
"Actually, Bowser has a lot of castles but all of them are in the Mushroom Kingdom." Koops answered.
"We're gonna need more info than that."
"Well don't look at me! How should I know?" Koops asked.
"Well how did you guys usually find things when you were traveling with Mario?" Mimi asked.
"Goombella usually had all of the answers to everything. She was pretty smart." Vivian answered for the three of them. It was true, whenever Mario didn't know the answer to something he would ask Goombella.
"Ugh! You guys are useless! Now how are we gonna find Bowser's castle?"
"Hey man, you're not exactly the brightest one here either. So just back off Freak-Sheet."
"Okay that is it you little Yoshi twerp! I'm gonna hurt you like I should've done back at Glitzville when you-" Doopliss stopped himself.
"When I what?"
"Never mind, just forget I said anything." Doopliss didn't want to relive that scene where Mimi had hugged Crash, not out of affection but simply gratefulness. Even so, it still burned Doopliss up inside when he remembered it.
"Hey stop it you two! Am I going to have to separate you guys every time you argue?" Mimi asked, obviously fed up with the constant arguing. "Especially you Doopliss."
"Me? What did I do?"
"You're the one who started this whole group which makes you the leader! If you're the leader than you're going to have to act like one and behave. Okay?"
"Fine, I call a truce." Doopliss looked away but put his hand out.
"Fine." Crash shook Doopliss's hand and they both quickly let go.
"Aw isn't that sweet Koops?" Vivian asked.
"I guess in a creepy sorta way."
"Oh my gosh! Look!" Mimi shouted. All of them turned there heads to see goomba henchmen heading their way, probably on their way to Petalburg to set up another one of their bombs. This time, however, there were dozens of koopas with them as well.
"Oh no! What are we going to do?" Vivian asked, apparently very afraid.
"It's okay Vivian, I'm sure Doopliss has a plan… right?" Koops asked. He didn't really believe that, but if it made Vivian feel better than he would've said anything.
"Uh a plan? Well uh… maybe we could… uh…" Doopliss couldn't think of a single thing.
"Dude, please tell me you have a plan."
"Well we could always transform…"
"No Doopliss, we could tramsform but they can't." It was true, Mimi and Doopliss were very good shape shifters but they could not transform other people.
"Hey wait a minute, wasn't there a pipe around here?" Koops asked aloud.
"Yeah, there was. It leads to Hooktail's castle." Vivian replied.
"Uh what the heck is a Hooktail?" Doopliss asked, completely ignorant of Mario's quest for the first Crystal Star.
"No time to explain dude. We have to hurry before those goons come over here." They all hurried down the pipe that led to the dragon's lair and quickly ran when the came across a broken bridge.
"Alright how are we gonna get across this thing Slick?"
"Well, we could always jump across." Koops suggested. They all looked down to see a pool of water infested with piranhas and sharks.
"Oh my gosh, there is no way I'm risking my life jumping across some broken down bridge."
"Don't worry Pigtails, you don't have to jump if you don't want to."
"Okay Doopliss. And stop calling me Pigtails!"
"Oh sorry. I just thought it was a cute name for you." They both immediately blushed.
"Ha ha! You two like each other! Doopliss and Mimi sitting in a tree, K-I-S ow!" Koops hit Crash in the head.
"Now's not the time to bother them about that, maybe later, but not now."
"Hey Koops, does Hooktail still live here?" Vivian asked.
"Nope. Mario, Goombella and I defeated Hooktail."
"Okay, what the heck is a Hooktail?!" Doopliss asked.
"Dude it's just some big dragon, or it was some big dragon." Crash answered.
"Well if Hooktail isn't there than I suggest we go to the top of the tower to get a better view of the town to see if the guards are still down there."
"Wow Vivian, that's not a bad idea." Doopliss said. Mimi began to grow a little jealous when he complimented Vivian's plan but kept her mouth closed to avoid any more arguments amongst the group. They all navigated through the tower and finally reached the top. When they got there, however, they were greeted by a familiar and unfriendly face: Hooktail's.
"W-w-w-w- what is that thing?" Doopliss stuttered out.
"Uh that would be Hooktail."
"KOOPS, I THOUGHT YOU SAID IT WAS DEAD DUDE!"
"Well I thought it was but apparently it's alive."
"RAHRRRRRRRRRGH!!" Hooktail's roar shook the whole tower. "I bet you're surprised to see me here."
"Well yeah, you're supposed to be dead!" Doopliss yelled out.
"Well thanks to Bowser's medallion, I'm alive and hungry!"
"Wait, the medallion is real?" Vivian asked.
"What are you talking about? You knew about that thing?" Doopliss asked.
"Well I didn't think it was real. Beldam would always tell me stories about it. It's called the Medallion of the Dead. With it you can bring any dead person to life. I only thought it was a legend but I guess it was real."
"Quit blabbering, I'm starving over here!"
"Uh dudes, I suggest we RUN!" They all ran to the door but it was being blocked off by one of Hooktail's huge hands.
"SCRAMBLE!" Doopliss called out. They all split up to try and confuse Hooktail. Fortunately for them it worked. Hooktail fell to the ground, dizzy and confused.
"Enough! You win! Just stop running around, you're giving me a headache."
"Okay, we'll stop only if you tell us where Bowser's castle is." Doopliss said.
"Instead of telling you, I'll just take you all there."
"Hey how do we know if we can trust you?" Mimi asked, very suspicious of the dragon.
"Trust me, I want to get back at Bowser too. He locked me up in this castle using some sort of reinforced steel to rebuild it."
"Fine, I guess you're story checks out." Mimi said.
"Okay. Everyone, just get on my back and I'll fly you there." Everyone got on Hooktail's back. "Okay hang on to something." Everyone held on to something, or someone. Mimi held on to Doopliss, Vivian held on to Koops, and Crash held on to his stomach because he knew he was going to lose his lunch.
It took a while but the gang finally arrived in a dark, eerie area.
"Hey where are we?" Doopliss asked.
"This is a place called 'The Valley of Bowser'. This was one of Bowser's first castles. If you're wanting to stop him than you came to the right place. If you need me I'll be anywhere but here." And with that, Hooktail flew away.
"Well let's go inside to put a stop to his plans once and for all!" Doopliss shouted.
"Alright let's go and put that nasty koopa in his place." Mimi said.
"Yeah dudes, I'm pumped." Crash said.
"Bowser's going to learn not to mess with us." Koops said.
"He's going to wish he never invaded our home in the first place." Vivian said.
"Alright Fearless Five, let's go." Doopliss broke down the doors and led the group inside the castle, but what they saw was not what they expected to see.
"Hey what's the big idea? Where is everybody?" Doopliss asked curiously. They had just walked into an empty castle, well almost empty. Sitting in Bowser's throne was not Bowser, but Kammy Koopa.
"Hey you old hag! Where's that scared koopa hiding?!" Crash yelled.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Looks like Lord Bowser was right, you idiots were foolish enough to come here."
"What are you talking about? He knew we were coming?" Koops asked.
"Of course he knew you were coming! He was sure that overgrown lizard would betray him so he went to his other castle on Vista Hill. And it's all thanks to those two freaks! They used their combined magic to find out about your little plan."
"What two 'freaks'?" Mimi asked.
"Thanks to the Medallion of the Dead, Lord Bowser was able to bring back that weirdo with the staff's body, since he was just a head. He was even able to bring back that stupid court jester."
"GRODUS!" Crash, Vivian, and Koops all yelled.
"Dimentio." Mimi whispered his name out of disbelief.
"That's right you little cretins! Instead of taking over the world, why not just destroy it! Ha ha ha! Now begone!" Kammy used a spell to open a portal in the middle of the room that sucked them all in.
"Ahhhhhh!" They all screamed, not knowing where the portal would lead them and unaware of the journey ahead of them.